Protected

Her

So, Zay, Josh, and Lucas disappeared for the rest of the day. Lucas and Zay went to get a bunch of desserts from the bakery in town, but Josh had to go all the way downtown, to the Liquor Shop, to stock the bar.

I was sitting in the library again, bored out of my mind. Riley was asleep, and Farkle went for a run. I decided I would go into the secret room. 

I went to the shelf and found that familiar book, Wolf. I pushed the spine, heard the click, and the door slid open, just like last time. I slipped in and shut the door behind me. It was almost exactly as we had left it. I walked over to Lucas's bookshelf, wondering what could be on it that he would keep in a secret room. 

One book was sticking out. It was a notebook. On the front, in Lucas's thick, slanted handwriting was one word: Her. Curious, I pulled it down and sat down on the bed. I opened it to no page in particular and began to read. It was a poem: 

Golden hair

Ocean eyes

Her smile lights up a room

Gentle hands

Broken heart

Mysterious as the moon

She found me back when I was pieces

And put me back together

Now all I can do is hope

That she can be happy 

Forever

And the poem ended there. I could feel the tears come. Suddenly, a picture slipped out of the binding. I picked it up off the floor and looked at it. 

It was me.

It was in the living room, back in the other house. I was trying to hide my face in a blanket, but you could still see my face. I was beaming up at him. 

I smiled involuntarily and turned the photo over. There were words on the back: Maya, my everything, it said. I started to cry. I put the photo back where it came from and put the book away so I wouldn't get tears on it.

I smiled through my tears. I didn't know he was a poet. I desperately wanted to read the rest, but I was going to wait until later. I didn't know why, I just had a feeling I should read them at different times.

I looked through the other books on the shelves. All notebooks with titles on the front in Lucas's handwriting. One was called Pack, another was called Our Woods. One was called Before. I made a mental note to ask Lucas about all of the notebooks, and hopefully to read them at some point. 

I slipped out of the secret room back into the library and settled down into a chair. I opened up a random book about poisonous flowers, but I wasn't reading it. I was silently memorizing Lucas's poem.

She found me back when I was pieces

And put me back together

Now all I can do is hope

That she can be happy

Forever